pump

PUMP/pʌmp/

28 meanings of pump

1
nouncountable
A machine that pushes liquid or gas from one place to another.
Like your heart, which pushes blood around your body all day.
The well has a hand pump that brings water up from underground.
The aquarium pump keeps fresh water flowing through the tank.
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2
verbtransitive or intransitive
To use a pump, or to move water or another liquid with one.
Firefighters pumped water from the river onto the burning barn.
We had to pump for ten minutes before any water came out.
3
verbtransitive
To fill something, like a tire or a ball, with air using a pump.
Can you pump my bike tires before we leave?
He pumped the basketball until it bounced properly.
Similarinflate
Oppositedeflate
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4
nouncountable
A machine at a gas station that puts fuel into your car.
Pull up to the pump and I'll fill the tank.
Gas prices at the pump jumped twenty cents this week.
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5
nounCanadaUScountable
A women's shoe with a high heel that leaves the top of the foot bare.
She wore black pumps with her suit to the interview.
One pump slipped off as she ran down the stairs.
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6
nouncountable
One push or stroke of a pump, or any movement like it.
A few pumps of the handle brought water gushing out.
Give the soap bottle one pump and rub your hands together.
Similarstroke, puff, squeeze
7
verbtransitive
To push or pour something into a person or place, the way a pump moves liquid.
Doctors pumped medicine into her arm through a thin tube.
They pump warm air into the building all winter.
Similarinject, pour, funnel, channel, feed
Oppositewithdraw, drain
8
verbtransitive
To keep asking someone questions to get information from them.
Like squeezing a sponge again and again to get all the water out.
She pumped her brother for details about the surprise party.
Don't pump me for answers. I promised not to tell.
Similarinterrogate, grill
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9
verbtransitive
To move something up and down or back and forth again and again.
She pumped her fist when the team scored.
Pump your arms to run faster up the hill.
10
verbtransitive
To shake a person's hand up and down with a lot of energy.
The coach pumped my hand and welcomed me to the team.
The salesman will pump your hand like he's known you for years.
Similarshake, wring

11
verbtransitive or intransitive
To take milk out of a breast using a small machine called a breast pump.
She pumped enough milk to cover the baby's feedings at daycare.
New moms often pump at work during their breaks.
Similarexpress
12
nouncountable or uncountable
The tight, swollen feeling in your muscles right after hard exercise like lifting weights.
Like a sponge swelling up as it soaks in water.
After twenty push-ups, his arms had a serious pump.
Climbers often feel a pump in their forearms halfway up the wall.
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13
verbintransitive
To build a bigger body by lifting weights or taking steroids.
He plans to pump all summer before football tryouts.
She pumped for years to build those shoulders.
Similarlift
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14
verbslangUSintransitive
To be loud and full of energy, like music with a strong beat.
The club really starts to pump after midnight.
The bass was pumping so hard the windows rattled.
Similarblast, boom, thump, pound, throb
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15
nounslangUScountable
The heart: the part of your body that pushes blood around.
After the race, I could feel my pump beating fast.
Grandpa says his old pump is still going strong.
Similarheart, ticker
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16
verbtransitive
To shoot a bullet out of a gun.
The robber pumped two bullets into the door lock.
Don't pump shots into the air to celebrate, because the bullets come down somewhere.
Similarfire, shoot, discharge
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17
verbtransitive or intransitive
To make a shotgun ready to fire by sliding part of it back and then forward.
He pumped the shotgun before stepping into the dark barn.
You have to pump the gun again after every shot.
Similarrack, cycle
18
verbtransitive
To kick, throw, or hit a ball very high and far.
The goalie pumped the ball all the way down the field.
On the last play, the quarterback can pump the ball far down the field.
Similarlaunch, loft, boot, kick
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19
verbcolloquialtransitive
To put silicone into the body with a needle to try to look fuller or curvier.
Some dancers pump their hips with silicone to look curvier.
She got sick after she pumped her lips with cheap silicone.
Similarinject
20
nouncolloquialcountable
A ride on someone's bicycle where you sit on the handlebars or over the back wheel.
Can you give me a pump to the store on your bike?
She gave her little brother a pump home on her handlebars.
Similarride, lift
21
nounBritishcountable
A light, flat shoe with a rubber bottom and a cloth top.
Each child kept a pair of pumps at school for gym class.
His left pump had a hole in the toe.
Similarsneaker, plimsoll
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22
nouncountable
A light shoe that you wear for dancing.
She put on her pumps before ballet class.
His right pump slipped off in the middle of the dance.
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23
nouncountable
A shoe with a flat bottom and no heel.
She changed out of her high heels into flat pumps for the walk home.
A soft pump with no heel is easier on your feet all day.
Similarflat
Oppositeheel
24
verbslangUKtransitive
To have sex with someone.
He bragged to his mates that he'd pumped her after the party.
All he wanted was to pump her and then disappear.
Similarfuck, bang, bonk, bone, hump
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25
verbtransitive
To send messages into a computer program so the program can act on them.
Like a mail carrier who keeps bringing letters inside so the office can answer each one.
The program pumps each message to the right window so clicks and key presses work.
A game has to pump messages even while it draws each frame.
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26
verbslangvulgarBritishintransitive
To fart quietly, letting out gas without much sound.
Somebody pumped in the car, and we all rolled the windows down.
Don't pump in the lift. Wait until you get out!
Similarfart, toot, poot, trump, guff
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27
verbobsolete
To hold someone under the water from a pump, as a punishment or as a treatment.
Long ago, angry crowds sometimes pumped thieves with cold water in the street.
Pump him soundly, impudent Fellow.
1676, Thomas Shadwell, The VirtuosoHere, pump means to put someone under water from a pump as punishment.
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28
nounvulgarobsoleteBritish
The vagina, a woman's sex organ.
Thus to and again to our paſtime we went, / And my Cards I play'd fairly to Jenny's content; / I work'd at her Pump till my Sucker grew dry, / Then I left pumping, a good Reaſon why.
1750, “Ge ho, Dobbin or the Waggoner”, in The TulipHere, Pump is a crude slang word for the vagina.
Similarfanny, beaver, box, cunt, bush
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Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–4, 6–20, 24–28

From Middle English pumpe. It may come from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German words for a pipe or pump, and was probably made to imitate a sound.

Meanings 5, 21–23

The origin is unclear and debated. It may come from "pomp" (ornamentation), from the sound a foot makes inside a shoe when dancing, or from a Dutch word that ultimately goes back to Persian and Arabic.